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THE^FUNCTION OF 

STATE HISTORIAN 

OF NEW YORK 



By 

VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS 
State Historian 



THE FUNCTION 



OF 



STATE HISTORIAN 

OF NEW YORK 



BY 
VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS 

State Historian 



Read before The New York State Historical Association 

at its Annual Meeting held in Albany, 

October 13, 1908 



ALBANY, N. Y. 
1909 



F\\(c 



500 SEPARATES FOR 
PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION 



J. C. LYON COMPANY 

PRINTERS 

ALBANY, N. Y. 



THE FUNCTION OF STATE HISTORIAN OF 

NEW YORK. 



By Victor Hugo Paltsits, State Historian. 



Mr. President, Members of the Isew York State Historical 
Association, Ladies and Gentlemen. — Your program committee 
extended a very generous invitation to me several months ago to 
participate in your proceedings at this meeting, and they re- 
quested me to " talk shop." Their cordiality and my opportunity 
formed a speedy coalition. I am here, therefore, to address you 
concerning " The Function of State Historian of ]S[ew York." 
That there is misapprehension of the function of this department 
of the State government cannot be denied. Hence I rejoice in 
this opportunity of defining what it is, and what it is not. I 
shall enlarge also upon a neglected function, which should in 
terest immensely all investigators within and without this State, 
whether historians, economists, sociologists, exponents of political 
science, or members of the legal profession. 

The office of State Plistorian'of ISTew York is a distinct State 
department, whose executive officer is nominated and appointed 
by the Governor " by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate " for a term of four years. This department was created 
by statute at the 118th session of the Legislature, as chapter 393 
of the Laws of 1895. The act reads as follows: 

"CHAPTER 393* 

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of a State historian and for the 
compilation of the military and naval records of the State. 

Became a law April 23, 1895, with the approval of the Governor. Pa.ssed, 
three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of Neio York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as folloios: 

Section 1. Appointment and duties of state historian. The governor 
shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, a State 
historian, whose duty it shall be to collect, collate, compile, edit and pre- 
pare for publication all official records, memoranda and data relative to the 

*Laws of 1895, Vol. T, p. 23G. 

[3] 



colonial wars, war of the revolution, war of eighteen hundred and twelve, 
Mexican war, and war of the rebellion, together with all official records, 
memoranda and statistics affecting the relations between this commonwealth 
and foreign powers, between this State and other States and between this 
State and the United States. 

§ 2. Term and compensation. — Stenographer. Said appointment is to 
continue for a period of four years from the date thereof. Said historian 
shall receive for his services the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars 
per annum, which shall include all necessary traveling expenses, and he shall 
have power to employ a stenographer, whose compensation shall not exceed 
one thousand dollars per year. 

§ 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately." 

The second section of this act was amended at the 123d session 
of the Legislature, as chapter 63 of the Laws of 1900, and the 
amendment provided by substitution for the employment of a 
chief clerk, but in no other way altered the original act of 1895. 
The text of the amendment is as follows: 

"CHAPTER 63.* 

, AN" ACT to amend section two of chapter three hundred and ninety-three of 
the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-five, entitled ' An act to provide 
for the appointment of a state historian and for the compilation of the 
military records of the state.' 

Became a law, March 1, 1900, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, 
three-fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows: 

Section 1. Act amended. Section two of chapter three hundred and ninety- 
three of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-five, entitled 'An act to 
provide for the appointment of a state historian and for the compilation 
of the military and naval records of the state,' is hereby amended to read 
as follows: 

§ 2. State historian, appointment, salary, etc. Said appointment is to 
continue for a period of four years from the date thereof. Said historian 
shall receive for his services the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars 
per annum, which shall include all necessary traveling expenses, and he shall 
have the power to employ a chief clerk, whose compensation shall not exceed 
fifteen hundred dollars per year. 

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately." 

As defined by the act, the function of State Historian is " to 
collect, collate, compile, edit and prepare for publication all 
official records, memoranda and data relative to the colonial wars. 



* Laws of 1900, Vol. I, p. 122. 



war of the revolution, war of eighteen hundred and twelve, Mex- 
ican war, and war of the rebellion, together with all official 
records, memoranda and statistics affecting the relations between 
this commonwealth and foreign powers, between this State and 
other States and between this State and the United States." That 
presages a great task, even if the meaning in spots rests in 
penumhra. But it is clearly evident that only " official records " 
are meant, and that publication, under this act, of bodies of man- 
uscripts owned by descendants of warriors or statesmen is pre- 
cluded, if the said manuscripts cannot pass muster as " official 
records." 

Many persons err in believing that the department's function 
is the compilation of the contemporary history of the State ; some 
evince an idea that it is rich in the possession of valuable ar- 
chives, and yet others seem to consider it a bureau of genealogical 
research or a place where any citizen's historical nuts are cracked. 
Perhaps these notions are fallacies of equivocation, for not many 
persons could define the designation of " State Historian." It 
has been a custom of the department, even in the absence of statu- 
tory prescription, to answer many queries propounded by corre- 
spondents from anywhere, and often several hours per day are 
devoted to this kind of work. But the point is this — it is not 
obligatory, nor can it be permitted to interfere with the specific 
obligations of documentation. The office is not equipped with a 
genealogical or historical library, and most queries necessitate a 
time-consuming journey to the ISTew York State Library or the 
State departments. Hence untechnical queries of a purely genea- 
logical or other character are generally referred to the depart- 
ments which are equipped with literature, manuscripts and clerks 
for that kind of work. The State Historian's staff consists of a 
chief clerk, an expert copyist and a page, while the total appro- 
priation for the fiscal year, which began on October 1st, is 
$8,334.* 

What personal equipment should the State Historian have, in 
view of his obligations ? That is a frank question and shall have 
a frank answer. He should be intensely interested in his work, 
and not consider his post as a sinecure. He must have good eyes, 
good health, capacity for arduous toil by day or by night, and 
possess administrative ability. He should be familiar with the 

* Divided as follows — State Historian, $4,500; chief clerk, $1,500; expert 
copyist, $1,200; page, $384; office expenses, $750. 



6 

best canons of historical documentation, criticism and systemati- 
zation, and have personal experience in deciphering and editing 
old manuscripts. He should hold intercourse with historical 
scholars and enjoy their sympathetic co-operation. He should be 
a bibliographer, conversant with the American historical litera- 
ture of the j)ast, and be abreast of the constructive historical and 
archival work of his own time. This is not a chimerical defini- 
tion and, because it is not, enjoins humility and striving in the 
incumbent. 

On July 24, 1907, the present State Historian was commis- 
sioned, and he filed his oath of office with the Secretary of State 
on the 30th day of that month. He found the position of type- 
writer-stenographer vacant, and that was a fortunate circum- 
stance. Conventional typewriter-stenographers are not competent 
for the kind of work which insures accuracy in documentation. 
He, therefore, was unsuccessful in procuring through the ordi- 
nary channels of the State Civil Service a person who could ful- 
fil the requirements of former experience and certification by a 
known specialist. For seven months the State Historian was his 
own copyist, during which time, apart from other duties, he 
copied with pen over 500 folios of documents written during the 
years 1668 to 1673. Competent assistance, however, was im- 
perative to progress. There were, indeed, those who thought 
they could do the work, but who were unable to stand the tests or 
qualify in accordance with the conditions. Finally, through the 
good offices of his friend, Worthington C. Ford, Chief of the 
Division of Manuscripts of the Library of Congress, and under 
rule 8, section 10', of the State Civil Service Eules, he appointed 
as expert copyist, a young man who had been engaged about eight 
years in the said Division of Manuscripts of the Library of Con- 
gress. The correct transcription of old manuscripts is a science. 
The system or form of handwriting in the early records varies 
with every generation. The numerous abbreviations of the early 
scribes were adopted by the first typographers, and many of these 
conventionalities persisted in manuscripts beyond the seventeenth 
century, and a few of them are yet in use to this day.* 

It will interest you, no doubt, to learn what volumes are being 
prepared for publication. A typewritten index to the " Public 
Papers of George Clinton," embracing about 3,000 folios, which 

* For a popular handbook see Thoyts, Hoio to decipher and study old docu- 
ments. Second edition. London, 1903. 



had been prepared before the present incumbency, is in course of 
severe revamping. An extensive series has been begun, the first 
volume of which covers the years 1668 to 1673, entitled, " Min- 
utes of the Executive Council of the Province of ISTcw York," 
accompanied by collateral and illustrative documents, such as 
orders, warrants, letters, proclamations, commissions, etc. The 
series, here begun, when completed will prove to be among the 
largest and best ever undertaken for the Colonial period. An- 
other volume in advanced state of preparation is the '' Minutes 
of the Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies 
in the State of New York, 1778-1781, Albany Sessions." Quite 
recently the copying for yet another volume was begun. It is the 
" Minutes of the Committee of the City and County of Albany," 
otherwise the Committe of Safety, embracing the years 1775 to 
1778. In addition to the works mentioned, I expect to plan at 
the earliest opportunity another series of unusual worth — the 
Assembly Papers, which begin with the year of the constitutional 
erection of the State, in 1777. They are scattered and it will 
require patience and care to co-ordinate them for publication. 

In all these works we seek the strictest accuracy of text in copy 
and in print that human endeavor can achieve. Every bit of 
copy and printer's proof will be read by me personally with the 
original manuscripts; it is no sinecure, but it is as it should be. 
As to editorial apparatus, I may say, I do not believe in flam- 
boyant introductions, scare headings, irrelevant footnotes, nor 
history peppered with pyrotechnics ; neither am I in accord with 
those who abjure all form and comeliness of diction. In an inter- 
view with the editor of a local newspaper of Kew York, I stated 
my ideals in the following words : 

" The State of l^ew York has been generous in appropriations 
to aid the cause of history, but has not always been dealt with 
fairly, in the results returned by the recipients of her generosity, 
or by those who have been entrusted with the publication of her 
archives. 

" The modern historical canons are exacting, and an editor 
must be able to honor them. He must reproduce faithfully all 
of the idiosyncracies of every letter, document or other manu- 
script, and be able to interpret the varying forms of handwriting, 
often written badly, illiterate, faded and even torn or rotten. 
These must be presented by typography in an orderly form, with 



8 

such accompanying critical apparatus as each case may suggest 
or require. 

" In the treatment of archives there is a triune function — 
preservation, co-ordination, and publication. In other words, 
first preserve the records against theft, fire, damp, or w^anton de- 
struction; second, when preserved properly in each departmei'.s: 
of every city, town, village and hamlet, and in the State by the 
State dei^artments, the next step is co-ordination or a proper 
scientific classification, together with indexes as media for ready 
accessibility ; the third stage follows naturally, because when they 
are properly preserved and classified, the publication is easy to an 
archivist. 

" Let no one believe that these things are being done in the 
State of New York, for it is an unfortunate fact that she is far 
behind other States, for example, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, Alabama, and Mississippi. But there is an awake^i- 
ing among the students of history in the State, growing out of a 
world-wide movement, which will bear fruitage and make for the 
proper administration of public archives throughout the State and 
under the official direction of the State." 

Let me now engage your attention for the consideration of the 
great need of the scientific preservation and supervision of public 
records. As one of the seven members of the Public Archives 
Commission of the American Historical Association and as State 
Historian, this thing is uppermost in my mind. That we in this 
State are singularly derelict can be shown, even if we do not stand 
alone as a horrible example. By comparison with European ac- 
tivities and the provision in some of our own States, our State 
has reason to be ashamed. 

In Sweden, the country is divided into several provincial 
depots, each in charge of a trained archivist, supervised by the 
Director of the National Archives, and to whom the head of each 
provincial depot is obliged to report at the beginning of each new 
year the results attained by him in his administration of the 
previous year. The National Archives are constituted the central 
authority of all the public archives of Sweden.* 

On June 17, 1891, a national society of Dutch archivists was 
organized at Haarlem, having for its object the promotion of a 

* Article by Dr. S. Bergh on " La nouvelle Organisation des Archives de 
Suede," in Le Bibliographe Moderne, vol. XI (1907), pp. 329, 333. 



9 

more scientific organization of archives in the nation under a 
unified system. That this laudable purpose might be successful, 
an annual meeting is held every summer at some place select-id 
at the preceding conference. The stimuli of these meetings have 
worked wonders in Holland, and the good work has received 
hearty accord from archivists in other nations of Europe. One of 
the products of these assemblies was the publication in Dutch of 
a guide for the administration, classification and description of 
archives, which has since been translated and adapted for the use 
of German archivists.* 

In Germany, in Denmark, in Belgium, in France and else- 
where trained men are at work and are receiving the aid of gov- 
ernment. In every progressive country of Europe the centraliza- 
tion and proper administration of the national and provincial 
archives has arrested attention in official and scholarly circles. 
The publication of inventories, indexes, registers, calendars or 
other guides to the contents of archival depots is carried out ex- 
tensively. The European archivists meet in international con- 
gresses and between times do progressive work.f 

Time does not permit me to enlarge upon European conditions. 
What is the situation in the United States? Recent tendencies 
indicate a desire " to provide more adequately for the care of the 
State archives," but reveal also " the general neglect on the part 
of the States to make provision for the adequate supervision of 
the local records in the custody of the various county, city, town 
and other local officials." % Only in Massachusetts, Ehodc Island 
and Connecticut is any State supervision provided over local 
records. The office of commissioner of public records in Massa- 
chusetts was made permanent in 1892, but much good work was 
performed during several years prior thereto by this officer. The 
Rhode Island commisisoner, since 1896, has authority to investi- 



*Anleitung zum Ordnen wnd Beschreiben von Archiven, von Dr. S. Muller, 
Dr. J. A. Feith und Dr. R. Fruin, Direktoren der Staatsarcliive in Utrecht, 
Groningen und Middelburg. Fur deutsche Archivare bearbeitet von Dr. 
Hans Kaiser. Leipzig, 1905. 

t Information about the law and administration of archives in Holland 
is given in the Nederlandsch Archievenblad, 1907-1908; of Belgium in the 
Kevue des BibUothdques et Archives de Belgigue, 1907-1908. The latter 
periodical chronicles also the work of the international congress, whose next 
sgance will be held in 1910. 

1 Report of the Public Archives Commission of the American HistoricaB 
Association, December 28, 1906, in Annual Report, 1906, vol. II, p. 11. 



10 

gate any official State or local records, and also such parish and 
church records as he may be able to locate of extinct and active 
church organizations. His authority is not mandatory over 
officials as to preservation. The commissioner of Connecticut 
supervises and reports to the Governor, with recommendations. 
Alabama, Mississipj)i, West Virginia and Indiana have depart- 
ments of archives and history, created and supported by legisla- 
tion. Of them the latje Eobert T. Swan has said : " It is to be 
hoped that the States which have established departments of ar- 
chives and history will not stoj) at this provision for the care of 
the records chiefly to be found in the custody of the State depart- 
ments, but will take action to recover and care for the valuable 
records fast going to destruction scattered through the counties, 
towns, and villages." * 

The Legislature of l^ew Jersey, in 1897, established a public 
record commission of three persons, for inquiring " into the 
nature and condition of the public records * * * and the several 
counties, townships, cities, and other municipalities." They were 
to report to the Governor from time to time and make recom- 
mendations. 

In 1903 the Legislature of Pennsylvania created a division of 
public records in connection with its State Library, and provided 
furthermore for the appointment, annually, of an advisory com- 
mission of public records. Good results are reported. 

Maryland has a public records commission of three members, 
created in 1904, to examine into conditions and report thereon 
to the general assembly. 

The Florida Legislature of 1905 created a division of public 
records, having jurisdiction of State and county records. 

In 1905 the Legislature of Hawaii established a board of 
public archives, with authority to collect aU public archives and 
arrange, classify, and inventory them. A new hall of records for 
their safekeeping was also provided. 

Since 1905 Kansas has a discretionary provision for turning 
over to the Kansas Historical Society any State, county, or other 
official records not required to be kept otherwise by law three 
years after the current use of the same. 

* Summary of the Present State of Legislation of the States and Terri' 
tories relative to the Custody and Supervision of the Public Records, by the 
late Robert T. Swan, Commissioner of Public Records of the State of Massa- 
chusetts, in Annual Report of Amer. Hist. Ass'n, 1906, vol. II. I have used 
this report to some extent. 



11 

In 1906 the Legislature of Iowa provided for the centralization 
of '' all the original public documents, papers, letters, records and 
other official manuscripts of the State executive and administra- 
tive departments, offices or officers, councils, boards, bureaus, and 
commissions, ten years after the date or current use of such public 
documents, papers, letters, records or other official manuscripts," 
and provided further for an earlier transfer or a longer retention, 
in the discretion of an executive council. 

In most of the States and territories not referred to in the fore- 
going memoranda, the treatment of manuscript records is hetero- 
geneous. State papers are in the custody of a Secretary of State, 
or heads of departments, or partly allotted to a State library or 
some historical society; court records are under the jurisdiction 
of court clerks; county records are deposited with county clerks; 
and city, town and local records with various local officers. There 
is no State supervision for their care and preservation, and where 
statutory provision has been made for accessibility and use, it 
pertains to specific kinds of records only, such as deeds, wills, 
court records, and similar papers consulted by the legal profes- 
sion; or to legislative papers desired by legislators. In a few 
States a sop is thrown to historical commissions, with the function 
of collecting historical data, the compilation of State gazetteers, 
military rosters, or publication of certain archives, and in yet 
other States the historical interest is confined to small appropria- 
tions to some historical society in the State. New York and 
Maine are the only States which have an official known as State 
Historian. It is a regrettable fact that States which appropriate 
funds most liberally toward less urgent needs, exhibit a singular 
penury toward the safeguarding of their public records — the 
prime sources of their administrative, social, and political 
history.* 

In 1901 the Public Archives Commission of the American 
Historical Association published its first report, and the bulk of 
it was a " Report on the Archives and Public Records of the State 
of New York and of New York City," by Dr. Herbert L. Osgood, 
Professor of History in Columbia Univcrsity.f A pioneer effort 



* For a summary of " What other States have done for their History," 
see Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association, vol. I (1906), 
pp. 28, S. It rather underestimates what has been done and is now being 
done in the purely historical line. 

fin Annual Report of Amer. Hist. Ass'n, 1900. vol. II (Washington, 
1901), pp. G7-250. Also issued separately with its own title-page and 
covers. 



12 

under private auspices, it has been awarded the highest praise, 
and it has served many a forlorn student as a guide. Admittedly 
it is far from complete for the State. It says to the State and 
the divisions thereof : " Here is the way, walk ye in it." This 
report showed that records were found in frame buildings used 
for business purposes, such as feed stores, glove factories, barber 
shops, and furniture stores, and that papers were kept in cellars 
and mildewed, in wooden cases, in wooden desks, loose in packing 
boxes, in lofts and garrets, and in sheds with household rubbish. 
The report declares that in two towns of Onondaga County the 
masses of stored manuscripts were deliberately burned because 
they were considered a useless burden. Now, the records are the 
property of the people, and as such are legally and theoretically 
accessible to all. Professor Osgood rightly points out that IsTew 
York has never legislated for the supervision and control of the 
work of these local records, whose constituted guardians generally 
know or care little about the older records, removed from the daily 
routine of their offices. He says : " The older records, there- 
fore, have not only been allowed to fall into neglect and to remain 
practically inaccessible to inquirers, but even precautions against 
loss or damage through fire or other accident, change of officials, 
change in the location of offices, lending of records, and even 
positive theft have not always been taken."* 

We are cognizant of cases of wanton destruction, of " bor- 
rowed " records, of papers lost by theft or through carelessness. 
A few may be mentioned. A number of the early volumes of 
!N^ew York City Deeds (conveyances, mortgages, etc.), are missing 
from the Register's Office. A correspondent of ours was recently 
informed " that several volumes disappeared during the incum- 
bency of the last Register, while the office was at 160 Nassau 
street, after the old Hall of Records had been razed and before 
the new building was ready for occupancy." You recall, no doubt, 
the return this summer to the City of New York of a volume of 
the " Minutes of the Executive Boards of the Burgomasters of 
New Amsterdam," and notarial records of Walewyn van der Veen, 
found among the effects of the late Berthold Femow.f 



* Osgood's Report, p. 3, of the separate issue. 

t Tliey were printed in the second volume of Minutes of the Orphanmasters 
Court of New Amsterdam, translated by B. Fernow, published at New York, 
by Francis P. Harper, in 1907. Query: Were they "borrowed" and by what 
authority, and when? A digest of the notarial records of Walewyn van dor 
Veen had actually appeared in the Year Book of the Holland Society of New 
York, 1900, pp. 110-203. 



13 

About five years ago a bookseller, now of Peekskill, but then of 
Xew York City, offered in his catalogue for $500 the following 
item: 

" Rough Minutes of the Board of Common Council, 1809 to 
1831, and of the Board of Aldermen, 1831 to 1847. Bound in Gl 
volumes of varying thickness, nearly folio in form. These are 
the original manuscript minutes of these two branches of the City 
Government, only a portion of which have ever been printed. It 
will be observed that the important periods of the War of 1812, 
and the Mexican War, are covered." 

As soon as I saw the item in the catalogue, I recognized that 
this was, indeed, a body of most valuable official manuscripts, to 
which my attention had been directed several years before, during 
a visit to the City Hall of iSTew York. I at once suggested that 
the item should be brought to the attention of the Hon. Seth Low, 
then mayor, w^hich was actually done. Mayor Low turned the 
case over to his corporation counsel, Mr. George L. Rives, who 
made the usual inquiries prior to an execution for a replevin. 
The bookseller, in his next catalogue, doubled the asking price 
to $1,000, and added these w^ords to his note : " These were a part 
of the Archives of the City of Xew York till some one with ample 
authority sold them to a junk dealer for old paper, and I happen- 
ing to find them in his possession in process of being packed for 
the paper mill, they were thus rescued from oblivion. Some 
interested person called the city officials' attention to the fact 
that this ' rubbish ' had value above old paper price, and the 
' junker ' was asked by the City Representatives who interviewed 
him why he ' did not know enough to send them to the paper mills 
and have done with them ? ' With too little sense to buy them 
back and place them where they belong and thus cover their 
ignorance, an attempt has been made to place me in a false 
position, because I had sufficient intelligence at command to be 
able to discern gold from Dutch metal. I can give a clear title 
to these records, and now offer them for sale at just twice the 
price they were originally advertised at by me." 

Is not the situation shameful ? Can you contemplate it without 
pangs of sorrow ? Something ought to be done by the State with 
alacrity to remedy its continuance. The administration of this 
work should be put into competent hands, provided with sufficient 
legal authority and the necessary means for carrying out the work. 



14 

It matters not to me whether this added burden of responsible 
work is i:)laced upon my shouklers, or whether others are charged 
with it. The main thing is, get the ivorh going! It is the con- 
cern of every serious investigator in the State and without the 
State. It is a duty which the State owes to itself now and to the 
generations yet unborn. I have received during my administra- 
tion many letters pointing out the need of supervision from the 
most reputable sources, among these I may mention: Hon, An- 
drew D. White, former president of Cornell University ; Dr. John 
H. Finley, president of the College of the City of New York; 
Dr. Herbert L. Osgood, of Columbia University; Professor 
Charles H. Hull, of Cornell University ; Dr. J. Franklin Jameson, 
director of the department of historical research in the Carnegie 
Institution; Professors W. K. Shepherd, Charles Beard, William 
A. Dunning, Edwin R. Selignian, and Franklin H. Giddings, all 
of Columbia University, and Professor Hammond Lamont, for- 
merly of Brown University and now editor of " The Nation." 
Surely these men know what they are talking about. Shall this 
thing be done now ? Will you help it on ? 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 107 166 fl i 



